Sino-Iranica - The Search For Mecca

Saffron and Turmeric 317
and Jagu4a (Zabulistan) it was observed by the famous pilgrim Huan
Tsan in the seventh century. 1 The Buddhist traveller Yi Tsin (671-695)
attributes it to northern India. 2
The earliest description of the plant is preserved in the Nan lou i
wu ci, written by Wan Cen in the third century a.d., 8 who says, "The
habitat of yii-kin is in the country Ki-pin (Kashmir), where it is cultivated
by men, first of all, for the purpose of being offered to the Buddha.
After a few days the flower fades away, and then it is utilized on
account of its color, which is uniformly yellow. It resembles the fu-yun
(Hibiscus) and a young lotus (Nelumbium speciosum), and can render
wine aromatic." This characteristic is fairly correct, and unequivocally
applies to the Crocus, which indeed has the appearance of a liliaceous
plant, and therefore belongs to the family Irideae and to the order
Liliiflorae. The observation in regard to the short duration of the
flowers is to the point. 4
In a.d. 647 the country Kia-p'i
f&fl lit in India offered to the Court
yii-kin hian, which is described on this occasion as follows: "Its leaves
are like those of the mai-men-tun ££ ffi %- (Ophiopogon spicatus). It
blooms in the ninth month. In appearance it is similar to fu-yuh
(Hibiscus mutabilis). It is purple-blue 3£ i§ in color. Its odor may be
perceived at a distance of several tens of paces. It flowers, but
does not bear fruit. In order to propagate it, the root must be
taken." 5
1 S. Julien, Memoires sur les contrdes occidentales, Vol. I, pp. 40, 131; Vol.
II, p. 187 (story of the Saffron-StQpa, ibid., Vol. I, p. 474; or S. Beal, Buddhist
Records, Vol. II, p. 125); W. W. Rockhill, Life of the Buddha, p. 169; S. Levi,
Journal asiatique, 1915, I, pp. 83-85.
1 Takakusu's translation, p. 128; he adds erroneously, "species of Curcuma."
8 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 14, p. 22.
4 Compare Pliny's (xxi, 17, §34) description of Crocus: "Floret vergiliarum
occasu paucis diebus folioque florem expellit. Viret bruma et colligitur; siccatur
umbra, melius etiam hiberna."
5 T'an hui yao, Ch. 200, pp. 14 a-b. This text was adopted by the Pen Is'ao
kan mu (Ch. 14, p. 22), which quotes it from the T'ang Annals. Li §i-cen comments
that this description agrees with that of the Nan lou i wu U, except in the colors of
the flower, which may be explained by assuming that there are several varieties; in
this he is quite correct. The flower, indeed, occurs in a great variation of colors,—
purple, yellow, white, and others. W. Woodville (Medical Botany, Vol. IV, p. 763)
gives the following description of Crocus: "The root is bulbous, perennial: the flower
appears after the leaves, rising very little above the ground upon a slender succulent
tube: the leaves rise higher than the flower, are linear, simple, radical, of a rich
green colour, with a white line running in the centre, and all at the base inclosed
along with the tube of the flower in a membranous sheath. The flower is large, of a
bluish purple, or lilac colour: the corolla consists of six petals, which are nearly
elliptical, equal, and turned inwards at the edges. The filaments are three, short,
tapering, and support long erect yellow antherae. The germen is roundish, from